EP3746306B1

EP3746306B1 - Moveable printheads

Info

Publication number: EP3746306B1
Application number: EP18910381.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Pau COSTAL FORNELLS; Marta RAMIS LLINARES; Andreas MÜLLER; Oscar MARTINEZ BAILAC
Original assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
Current assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
Priority date: 2018-03-22
Filing date: 2018-03-22
Publication date: 2023-12-27
Anticipated expiration: 2038-03-22
Also published as: KR102438297B1; WO2019182601A1; KR20200122352A; EP3746306A1; JP6960543B2; JP2021514871A; US20210039409A1; EP3746306A4; BR112020019006A2; US11752788B2; CN111886138A

Description

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to a printing system carriage according to claim 1, a method for printing according to claim 10, and a non-transitory machine readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor according to claim 12. The carriage of a printer is an element within a printing device. The carriage is the place where the printheads are located. In different printing operations, the printheads in the carriage may be set in different layouts. During a printing operation, the printheads layout in the carriage is fixed and unmovable in the printer.
JP 2009 113284 A discloses relevant prior art.
JP 2012-125951 A addresses the problem of how to achieve various printings by improving flexibility of arrangement of two heads. The printing apparatus includes: first and second heads each including a plurality of nozzle arrays comprising a plurality of nozzles arranged in the first direction and capable of discharging multiple kinds of ink; a carriage which moves the first head and the second head; a head moving mechanism which arranges the first head and the second head in parallel in the second direction and changes the positional relation of the first head and the second head in the first direction to shift and arrange the first head and the second head at a different position in the first direction; and a controller for controlling the discharge of the ink from the first head and the second head. The controller discharges the same kind of ink from the first head and the second head, respectively, in parallel arrangement, and discharges the different kind of ink from the first head and the second head, respectively, in shift arrangement.
JP H05238004 A decribes adjustment to recordings made by a plurality of recording heads by a method wherein slippage in positions of the recording heads is detected in accordance with positions of recording information read by a recording information reading means, and the positions of a plurality of recording heads are adjusted in accordance with the detected slippage in the positions.
The invention provides a printing system carriage as defined in claim 1, a method as defined in claim 10 and non-transitory machine readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor as defined in claim 12.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present application may be more fully appreciated in connection with the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a printing system carriage comprising moveable printheads.
FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an example of a plurality of printheads comprising moveable printheads in a first printhead position.
FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an example of a plurality of printheads comprising moveable printheads in a second printhead position.
FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating another example of a printing system carriage comprising moveable printheads in a first printhead position.
FIG. 3B is a block diagram illustrating another example of a printing system carriage comprising moveable printheads in a second printhead position
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating another example of a printing system carriage comprising moveable printheads.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating another example of a printing system carriage comprising moveable printheads.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an example method for moving movable printheads.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another example method for moving movable printheads.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another example method for moving movable printheads.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a processor-based system to move moveable printheads.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is defined by the appended claims.
The carriage of a printer is an element within a printer. The carriage is the element wherein the printheads are located. In different printing operations, the printheads in the carriage may be set in different layouts.
In one aspect of the invention, a printing system carriage according to claim 1 is disclosed.
In another aspect of the invention, a method according to claim 10 is disclosed.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a non-transitory machine readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor according to claim 12.
Referring now to the figures, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printing system 100 carriage comprising moveable printheads according to an implementation. The printing system carriage 100 includes a plurality of printheads 120, and a positioning mechanism 160. The plurality of printheads comprises a moveable printhead 140 that is moveable with respect to the other printheads from the plurality of printheads.
For simplicity, the description of figures 1-5 is made based on a single moveable printhead, however there can be more than one moveable printhead in the printing system carriage without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. A plurality of examples of plurality of printheads are shown in FIGs 2A and 2B. The positioning mechanism 160 is to move the moveable printhead from a first printhead position to a second printhead position. The positioning mechanism 160 may be any mechanism (e.g., mechanical mechanism) enabling the moveable printhead to move from the first printhead position to the second printhead position. A plurality of examples of positioning mechanism are shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. In some implementations, the printing system carriage 100 may be part of a printer.
The positioning mechanism 160 moves the moveable printhead 140 from the first printhead position to the second printhead position upon receipt a triggering signal. The triggering signal is any signal received by the printing system carriage 100. An example of print mode signal may be a change of print mode selection (e.g., change from four passes printing to six passes printing, change from six passes printing to four passes printing, and the like).
In some implementations, the printheads from the plurality of printheads 120 of the printing system carriage 100 may comprise a nozzle array comprising a plurality of nozzles controllable to eject a composition. The term nozzle may be understood as a spout at the end of a pipe, hose, or tube used to control a jet of a composition. In an example, the plurality of nozzles may be controllable by means of a controller. The term "controller" as used herein may include a series of instructions encoded on a machine-readable storage medium and executable by a single processor or a plurality of processors. Additionally, or alternatively, a controller may include one or more hardware devices including electronic circuitry, for example a digital and/or analog application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), for implementing the functionality described herein.
In an example, the composition of a nozzle from the array of nozzles comprises white colorant. In one implementation, the composition that comprises white colorant may be a white printing fluid composition (e.g., white ink). In another example, the composition of a nozzle from the array of nozzles may comprise black colorant. In one implementation, the composition that comprises black colorant may be a black printing fluid composition (e.g., black ink). In yet another example, the composition of a nozzle from the array of nozzles may comprise colored colorant. In one implementation, the composition that comprises color colorant may be a color printing fluid composition.
In an example, the printing fluid comprises any composition used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. In one example, the printing fluid composition may be a liquid-based composition. In another example, the printing fluid composition may be a powder-based composition. As used herein, the term color may be understood broadly as colors may emit any wavelength ranging from about 380 nanometers (nm) to about 750 nm. In another example, the printing fluid may comprise a non-marking fluid, such as a printing overcoat agent.
As used herein, the term "about" is used to provide flexibility to a numerical range endpoint by providing that a given value may be "a little above" or "a little below" the endpoint. The degree of flexibility of this term can be dictated by the particular variable and would be within the knowledge of those skilled in the art to determine based on experience and the associated description herein.
FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B illustrate examples of a plurality of printheads comprising moveable printheads in different positions. FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an example of a plurality of printheads 220A comprising moveable printheads in a first printhead position. The plurality of printheads 220A may be the same or similar as the plurality of printheads 120 from FIG. 1. The plurality of printheads 220A may be attached to a printing system carriage (e.g., printing system carriage 100 from FIG. 1). The plurality of printheads 220A comprises eight printheads. The plurality of printheads 220A comprises a set of fixed printheads 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, i.e., seven fixed printheads. The fixed printheads 221-227 may be coupled to the carriage moving with the carriage. The plurality of printheads 220A may also comprise a moveable printhead 240A. The moveable printhead 240A may be moveable with respect to the other printheads from the plurality of printheads. The plurality of printheads 220A may move along the X axis with the printing system carriage. The moveable printhead 240A may be also moveable along the Y axis through different printhead positions. The media may also move along the Y axis. In this example, the moveable printhead 240A is set in a first printhead position. Axis X and axis Y may be perpendicular axis, therefore the moveable printhead may be moved from the first printhead position (e.g., FIG. 2A) to the second printhead position (e.g., FIG. 2B) perpendicularly with respect to the carriage movement. The plurality of printheads 220A may be installed in the printing system carriage in different layouts. In this example, a first subset of printheads 221-224 is installed between marking points A and B; a second subset of printheads 225-227 is installed between points B and C; and the moveable printhead in the first printhead position is installed between points D1 and D2; wherein point D1 is defined in about the middle point from points B and C, and point D2 is defined in about half of a printhead distance from point C. The distance between points A and B, B and C, and D1-D2 is about the length of a printhead. This is an example of a layout for the plurality of printheads 220A and many other layouts can be derived therefrom without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes the plurality of printheads 220A comprises eight printheads wherein one printhead is a moveable printhead 240A, however the plurality of printheads 220A may comprise a different number of printheads and more number of moveable printheads without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating the example of figure 2A wherein the movable printhead 220A of the plurality of printheads 220A has moved from a first position (as shown in figure 2A) to a second position (as shown in Figure 2B). The plurality of printheads 220A may be the same or similar as the plurality of printheads 120 from FIG. 1.The moveable printhead 240A may be moveable with respect to the other printheads from the plurality of printheads. The plurality of printheads 220A may move along a carriage movement direction (for example, the X axis of figure 2B) with the printing system carriage while maintaining the relative position between printheads along the carriage movement direction. The moveable printhead 240A may be also moveable along the Y axis through different printhead positions. In this example, the moveable printhead 240A is set in a second printhead position. Axis X and axis Y may be perpendicular axis, therefore the moveable printhead may move from the second printhead position (e.g., FIG. 2B) to the first printhead position (e.g., FIG. 2A) along a direction parallel to the media advance direction, i.e., perpendicularly with respect to the carriage movement. The plurality of printheads 220A may be installed in the printing system carriage in different layouts. In this example, a first subset of printheads 221-224 is installed between marking points A and B; a second subset of printheads 225-227 is installed between points B and C; and the moveable printhead in the first printhead position is installed between points D3 and D4. In the example, point D3 is defined in about a third of a printhead length distance from C, and about two thirds of a printhead length distance from B; and point D4 is defined in about two thirds of a printhead length distance from point C, and a printhead length distance from point D3. The distance between points A and B, B and C, and D3-D4 is about the length of a printhead. This is an example of a plurality of printheads layout and many other layouts can be derived therefrom without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes the plurality of printheads comprises eight printheads wherein one printhead is a moveable printhead, however the plurality of printheads may comprise a different number of printheads and more number of moveable printheads without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
In an example, the moveable printhead 240A may be located closer to an edge of the printing system carriage, along the Y axis, than the other printheads of the carriage, therefore the positioning mechanism (e.g., positioning mechanism 160 from FIG. 1) may modify the spread area of the plurality of printheads when changing from a printhead position to another printhead position. In the example, the spread area of the plurality of printheads in the first position is different to the spread area of the plurality of printheads in the second position. In the present disclosure, the spread area may be understood as the distance in the Y axis between the two furthest points comprised by the plurality of printheads 221-227 and 240A. In the examples of FIG. 2A and 2B, the spread area of the plurality of printheads in the first printhead position (e.g., configuration of FIG. 2A) may be defined by points A and D2, being a distance of about 2.5 times the length of a printhead; and the spread area of the plurality of printheads in the second printhead position (e.g., configuration of FIG. 2B) may be defined by points A and D4, being a distance of about 2.66 times the length of a printhead. Therefore, the spread area as defined above may vary depending on the printing system printhead position.
FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B illustrate examples of a printing system carriage comprising moveable printheads in different positions. FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating another example of a printing system carriage 300 comprising moveable printheads in a first printhead position. The printing system carriage 300 may be the same or similar as the printing system carriage 100 from FIG. 1. The printing system carriage 300 may comprise a plurality of printheads 320A, and a positioning mechanism 360. The plurality of printheads 320A comprises a printhead 321, a printhead 322, a printhead 323, a printhead 324, a printhead 325, a printhead 326, and a printhead 327. Printheads 321-327 may be the same or similar as printheads 221-227 from FIG. 2A. The plurality of printheads 320A may also comprise a moveable printhead 340A that is movable with respect to the other printheads from the plurality of printheads 320A. The moveable printhead 340A may be the same or similar as the moveable printhead 240A from FIG. 2A. The plurality of printheads 320A are in a first printhead position configuration and may be the same or a similar configuration as the first printhead position configuration of the plurality of printheads 220A from FIG. 2A. The positioning mechanism 360 is to move the moveable printhead 340A from a first printhead position (e.g., FIG. 3A) to a second printhead configuration (e.g., FIG. 3B). The positioning mechanism 360 may be the same or similar as the positioning mechanism 160 from FIG. 1. The printing system carriage 300 also comprises a controller 380 to generate the triggering signal, wherein the positioning mechanism 360 moves the movable printhead 340A from the first printhead position to the second printhead position upon receipt said triggering signal. The term "controller" as used herein may include a series of instructions encoded on a machine-readable storage medium and executable by a single processor or a plurality of processors. Additionally, or alternatively, a controller may include one or more hardware devices including electronic circuitry, for example a digital and/or analog application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), for implementing the functionality described herein.
In an example, the printheads 321-327, and the moveable printhead 340A may have the same or similar printhead length. In a first configuration example, printheads 321-324 may be placed between points A1 and A3, being A2 its middle point; printheads 325-327 may be placed between points B1 and B3, being B2 its middle point. The moveable printhead 340A may be placed between C1 and C3, being C2 its middle point. Points A3 and B1 may be the same point, points B2 and C1 may be the same point, and points B3 and C2 may be the same point. This configuration may be used as a four passes printing configuration; being the first printing pass the area comprised between points A1 and A2, the second printing pass the area comprised between points A2 and A3; the third printing pass the area comprised between points B1 and B2; and the fourth printing pass the area comprised between B2 and B3. The area comprised between C2 and C3 may be used for other purposes; for example, ejecting white colorant, ejecting pre-processing agent, and/or ejecting post-processing agent. In an example, the area comprised between C2 and C3 may eject an overcoat fluid. In another example, the area comprised between C2 and C3 may eject an optimizer fluid. This is a configuration example, and other configurations may be designed therefrom without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
At a printing operation comprising ejecting white printing fluid, white color may have the peculiarity that, in order to have the same IQ, additional passes of white printing fluid may be required compared to other printing fluids, such as black and/or colors. Therefore, having an additional area to eject white ink may enable the printing system to print using said additional passes, leading to a better IQ in the white color printed.
The controller 380 is to derive a number of passes of the carriage from a print mode selection. In an example, the print mode selection is set as a four-pass printing selection, therefore the number of passes being four passes. The plurality of printheads 320A of the example of FIG. 3A has a four-pass printing selection. As explained above, the first printing pass is the area comprised between points A1 and A2, the second printing pass is the area comprised between points A2 and A3; the third printing pass is the area comprised between points B1 and B2, and the fourth printing pass is the area comprised by B2 and B3.
The controller 380 is to divide each printhead from the plurality of printheads 320A into a plurality of segments based on the number of passes. Each number of passes may indicate how many segments each printhead from the plurality of printheads 320A should be divided. A four-pass print mode selection may indicate to divide each printhead in a multiple of two segments, for example two segments. A six-pass print mode selection may indicate to divide each printhead in a multiple of three segments, for example three segments. Following with the four passes print mode selection example, each printhead may be divided into two segments. The first segments of printheads 321-324 may be the segment defined between points A1 and A2; the second segments of printheads 321-324 may be the segment defined between points A2 and A3; the first segments of printheads 325-327 may be the segments defined between points B1 and B2; the second segments of printheads 325-327 and the first segment of the moveable printhead 340A may be the segments defined between points B2 (C1) and B3 (C2); and the second segment of the moveable printhead 340A may be the segment defined between points C2 and C3.
The controller 380 may identify that the moveable printhead segments are out of phase in respect to the other segments from the plurality of printheads. A segment may not be defined between two points (e.g., A1 and A2, A2 and A3, B1 and B2, B2 and B3, C1 and C2, and C2 and C3), the printhead that comprises said segment is out of phase. When a printhead is out of phase, it leads to big banding and therefore, a reduction of the image quality (IQ) of the printing operation.
In the event the controller 380 identifies that the moveable printhead 340A segments are out of phase with respect to the other segments from the plurality of printheads 320A, the controller 380 is to issue the triggering signal to cause the positioning mechanism 360 to move the moveable printhead from the first printhead position to the second printhead position.
FIG. 3B is a block diagram illustrating another example of a printing system carriage 300 comprising moveable printheads in a second printhead position. The printing system carriage 300 may be the same or similar as the printing system carriage 100 from FIG. 1. The printing system carriage 300 may comprise a plurality of printheads 320A, and a positioning mechanism 360. The plurality of printheads 320A comprises a printhead 321, a printhead 322, a printhead 323, a printhead 324, a printhead 325, a printhead 326, and a printhead 327. Printheads 321-327 may be the same or similar as printheads 221-227 from FIG. 2B. The plurality of printheads 320A may also comprise a moveable printhead 340A that is movable with respect to the other printheads from the plurality of printheads 320A. The moveable printhead 340A may be the same or similar as the moveable printhead 240B from FIG. 2B. The plurality of printheads 320A are in a second printhead position configuration and may be the same or a similar configuration as the second printhead position configuration of the plurality of printheads 220A from FIG. 2B. The positioning mechanism 360 is to move the moveable printhead 340A from a second printhead position (e.g., FIG. 3B) to a first printhead configuration (e.g., FIG. 3A). The positioning mechanism 360 may be the same or similar as the positioning mechanism 160 from FIG. 1. The printing system carriage 300 also comprises a controller 380 to generate the triggering signal, wherein the positioning mechanism 360 moves the movable printhead 340A from the second printhead position to the first printhead position upon receipt said triggering signal. The term "controller" as used herein may include a series of instructions encoded on a machine-readable storage medium and executable by a single processor or a plurality of processors. Additionally, or alternatively, a controller may include one or more hardware devices including electronic circuitry, for example a digital and/or analog application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), for implementing the functionality described herein.
In an example, the printheads 321-327, and the moveable printhead 340A may have the same or similar printhead length. In a configuration example, printheads 321-324 may be placed between points A1 and A4, being A2 at one third of printhead length distance from A1 and two thirds of printhead length distance to A4, and A3 at two thirds of printhead length distance from A1 and one third of printhead length distance to A4. Following with the configuration example, printheads 325-327 may be placed between points B1 and B4, being B2 at one third of printhead length distance from B1 and two thirds of printhead length distance to B4, and B3 at two thirds of printhead length distance from B1 and one third of printhead distance to B4. The moveable printhead 340A may be placed between C1 and C4, being C2 at one third of printhead length distance from C1 and two thirds of printhead length distance to C4, and C3 at two thirds of printhead length distance from C1 and one third of printhead distance to C4. Points A4 and B1 may be the same point, points B3 and C1 may be the same point, and points B4 and C2 may be the same point. This configuration may be used as a six passes printing configuration; being the first printing pass the area comprised between points A1 and A2, the second printing pass the area comprised between points A2 and A3; the third printing pass the area comprised between points A3 and A4; the fourth printing pass the area comprised between points B1 and B2; the fifth printing pass the area comprised between points B2 and B3; and the sixth printing pass the area comprised between points B3 (C1) and B4 (C2). The area comprised between C2 and C3, and the area comprised between C3 and C4, may be used for other purposes; for example, ejecting white colorant, ejecting pre-processing agent, and/or ejecting post-processing agent. In an example, the area comprised between C2 and C3 and/or the area comprised between C3 and C4 may eject an overcoat fluid. In another example, the area comprised between C2 and C3 and/or the area comprised between C3 and C4 may eject an optimizer fluid. This is a configuration example, and other configurations may be designed therefrom without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
At a printing operation comprising ejecting white printing fluid, white color may have the peculiarity that, in order to have the same IQ, additional passes of white printing fluid may be required compared to other printing fluids, such as black and/or colors. Therefore, having an additional area to eject white ink may enable the printing system to print using said additional passes, leading to a better IQ in the white color printed.
The controller 380 is to derive a number of passes of the carriage from a print mode selection. In an example, the print mode selection is set as a six-pass printing selection, therefore the number of passes being six passes. The plurality of printheads 320A of the example of FIG. 3B has a six-pass printing selection. As explained above, the first printing pass is the area comprised between points A1 and A2, the second printing pass is the area comprised between points A2 and A3; the third printing pass is the area comprised between points A3 and A4; the fourth printing pass is the area comprised between points B1 and B2; the fifth printing pass is the area comprised between points B2 and B3; and the sixth printing pass is the area comprised between points B3 (C1) and B4 (C2).
The controller 380 is to divide each printhead from the plurality of printheads 320A into a plurality of segments based on the number of passes. Each number of passes may indicate how many segments each printhead from the plurality of printheads 320A should be divided. A four-pass print mode selection may indicate to divide each printhead in a multiple of two segments, for example two segments. A six-pass print mode selection may indicate to divide each printhead in a multiple of three segments, for example three segments. Following with the six passes print mode selection example, each printhead may be divided into three segments. The first segments of printheads 321-324 may be the segments defined between points A1 and A2; the second segments of printheads 321-324 may be the segments defined between points A2 and A3; the third segments of printheads 321-324 may be the segments defined between pointA3 and A4; the first segments of printheads 325-327 may be the segments defined between points B1 and B2; the second segments of printheads 325-327 may be the segments defined between points B2 and B3; the third segments of printheads 325-327 and the first segment of the moveable printhead 340A may be the segments defined between points B3 (C1) and B4 (C2); the second segment of the moveable printhead 340A may be the segment defined between points C2 and C3; and the third segment of the moveable printhead 340A may be the segment defined between points C3 and C4.
The controller 380 may identify that the moveable printhead segments are out of phase in respect to the other segments from the plurality of printheads. A segment may not be defined between two points (e.g., A1 and A2, A2 and A3, A3 and A4, B1 and B2, B2 and B3, B3 and B4, C1 and C2, C2 and C3, and C3 and C4), the printhead that comprises said segment is out of phase. When a printhead is out of phase, it leads to big banding and therefore, a reduction of the image quality (IQ) of the printing.
In the event the controller 380 identifies that the moveable printhead 340A segments are out of phase with respect to the other segments from the plurality of printheads 320A, the controller 380 is to issue the triggering signal to cause the positioning mechanism 360 to move the moveable printhead from the second printhead position to the first printhead position.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating another example of a printing system carriage 400 comprising moveable printheads. The printing system carriage 400 may be similar to the printing system carriage 100 from FIG. 1. The printing system carriage 400 includes a plurality of printheads 420, and a positioning mechanism 460. The plurality of printheads 420 may be the same or similar as the plurality of printheads 420 from FIG. 1. The plurality of printheads comprises a moveable printhead 440 that is moveable with respect to the other printheads from the plurality of printheads. For simplicity a single moveable printhead is shown, however there may be more than one moveable printhead in the printing system carriage without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. A plurality of examples of plurality of printheads are shown in FIGs 2A and 2B. The positioning mechanism 460 is to move the moveable printhead from a first printhead position to a second printhead position. The positioning mechanism 460 may be any mechanism (e.g., mechanical mechanism) enabling the moveable printhead to move from the first printhead position to the second printhead position. In some implementations, the printing system carriage 400 may be part of a printer.
In an example, the positioning mechanism 460 may comprise a pen pocket 465 moveable from the first position (e.g., configuration of FIG. 2A) to the second position (e.g., configuration of FIG. 2B). The moveable printhead may be installed on the pen pocket, therefore the positioning mechanism 460 allowing the pen pocket 465 and the moveable printhead to move together from the first printhead position to the second printhead position. In an example, the positioning mechanism 460 may also comprise an actuator that may move the pen pocket from the first printhead position to the second printhead position.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating another example of a printing system carriage 500 comprising moveable printheads. The printing system carriage 500 may be similar to the printing system carriage 100 from FIG. 1. The printing system carriage 500 includes a plurality of printheads 520, and a positioning mechanism 560. The plurality of printheads 520 may be the same or similar as the plurality of printheads 120 from FIG. 1. The plurality of printheads 520 comprises a moveable printhead 540 that is moveable with respect to the other printheads from the plurality of printheads. For simplicity a single moveable printhead is shown, however there can be more than one moveable printhead in the printing system carriage without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. A plurality of examples of plurality of printheads are shown in FIGs 2A and 2B. The positioning mechanism 560 is to move the moveable printhead from a first printhead position to a second printhead position. The positioning mechanism 560 may be any mechanism (e.g., mechanical mechanism) enabling the moveable printhead to move from the first printhead position to the second printhead position. In some implementations, the printing system carriage 500 may be part of a printer.
In an example, the positioning mechanism 560 may comprise a servomotor 565 to move the position of the moveable printhead 440 to a position within a moving range. The boundaries of the moving range may be defined by the first printhead position (e.g., configuration of FIG. 2A) and the second printhead position (e.g., configuration of FIG. 2B). In the example, the boundaries may be defined from the lowest point of the first printhead position D1 and the highest point of the second printhead position D4. Points D1 and D4 may be the same or similar to points D1 and D4 from FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B respectively. This is an example, and many other implementations and moving ranges may be defined without departing to the scope of the present disclosure.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an example method 600 according to the invention for moving movable printheads according to an implementation. Method 600 may be described below as being executed or performed by a printing system carriage, such as printing system carriage 100 of FIG. 1. Various other suitable printing system carriages may be used as well, such as, for example system 300 of FIG. 3A, and 3B; system 400 of FIG. 4; and/or system 500 of Fig. 5. Method 600 may be implemented in the form of executable instructions stored on a machine-readable storage medium and executed by a single processor or a plurality of processors of the system 100, and/or in the form of any electronic circuitry, for example digital and/or analog ASIC.
The method 600 may start at block 620, and continue to block 640, where a system (e.g., printing system carriage 100 from FIG. 1) receives a triggering signal. At block 660, the system moves, by a positioning mechanism (e.g., positioning mechanism 160 from FIG. 1), a position of a movable printhead (e.g., moveable printhead 140 from FIG. 1) from a plurality of printheads (e.g., plurality of printheads 120 from FIG. 1) from a first printhead position to a second printhead position, wherein the moveable printhead is moveable with respect to the other printheads from the plurality of printheads. At block 680, the method 600 may end.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another example method 700 for moving movable printheads. Method 700 is a sub-method according to the invention performed after block 640 from method 600 of FIG. 6. Method 700 may be described below as being executed or performed by a printing system carriage, such as printing system carriage 100 of FIG. 1. Various other suitable printing system carriages may be used as well, such as, for example system 300 of FIG. 3A, and 3B; system 400 of FIG. 4; and /or system 500 of Fig. 5. Method 700 may be implemented in the form of executable instructions stored on a machine-readable storage medium and executed by a single processor or a plurality of processors of the system 100, and/or in the form of any electronic circuitry, for example digital and/or analog ASIC. In some implementations of the present disclosure, method 700 may include more or less operations than are shown in FIG. 7. In some implementations, one or more of the blocks of method 700 may, at certain times, be ongoing and/or may repeat.
The method 700 may start at block 741, and continue to block 742, where a controller (e.g., controller 380 from FIG. 3A, and 3B) may derive a number of passes of the plurality of printheads (plurality of printheads 120 from FIG. 1) from a print mode selection. At block 743, the controller may divide each printhead from the plurality of printheads into a plurality of segments based on the number of passes. At block 744, the controller may identify that the moveable printhead segments are out of phase with respect of the other segments from the plurality of printheads. At block 745, the controller issues a triggering signal. At block 746, the method 700 may end.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another example method 800, not according to the invention, for moving movable printheads. Method 800 may be a sub-method from method 600 of FIG. 6. Method 800 may be described below as being executed or performed by a printing system carriage, such as printing system carriage 100 of FIG. 1. Various other suitable printing system carriages may be used as well, such as, for example system 300 of FIG. 3A, and 3B; system 400 of FIG. 4; and/or system 500 of Fig. 5. Method 800 may be implemented in the form of executable instructions stored on a machine-readable storage medium and executed by a single processor or a plurality of processors of the system 100, and/or in the form of any electronic circuitry, for example digital and/or analog ASIC. In some implementations of the present disclosure, method 800 may include more or less operations than are shown in FIG. 8. In some implementations, one or more of the blocks of method 800 may, at certain times, be ongoing and/or may repeat.
The method 800 may start at block 820, and continue to block 840, where a nozzle ejects a composition with white colorant, wherein a printhead from the plurality of printheads (e.g., plurality of printheads 120 from FIG. 1) comprises the nozzle. At block 860, the method 800 may end.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a processor-based system 900 to move moveable printheads. In some implementations, the system 900 may be or may form part of a printing device, such as a printer. In some implementations, the system 900 is a processor-based system and may include a processor 910 coupled to a machine-readable medium 920. The processor 910 may include a single-core processor, a multi-core processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or any other hardware device suitable for retrieval and/or execution of instructions from the machine-readable medium 920 (e.g., instructions 922, and 924) to perform functions related to embodiments according to the invention disclosed herein. Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 910 may include electronic circuitry for performing the functionality described herein.
The machine-readable medium 920 may be any medium suitable for storing executable instructions, such as a random-access memory (RAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, hard disk drives, optical disks, and the like. In some example implementations, the machine-readable medium 920 may be a tangible, non-transitory medium, where the term "non-transitory" does not encompass transitory propagating signals. The machine-readable medium 920 may be disposed within the processor-based system 900, as shown in FIG. 9, in which case the executable instructions may be deemed "installed" on the system 900. Alternatively, the machine-readable medium 920 may be a portable (e.g., external) storage medium, for example, that allows system 900 to remotely execute the instructions or download the instructions from the storage medium. In this case, the executable instructions may be part of an "installation package". As described further herein below, the machine-readable medium may be encoded with a set of executable instructions 922-924.
Instructions 922, when executed by the processor 910, causes the processor 910 to receive a triggering signal. Instructions 924, when executed by the processor 910, cause the processor 910 to move a position of a moveable printhead (e.g., moveable printhead 140 from FIG. 1) from a plurality of printheads (plurality of printheads 120 from FIG. 1) from a first printhead position to a second printhead position, wherein the moveable printhead is moveable with respect to the other printheads from the plurality of printheads.
The machine-readable medium 920 include further instructions as defined by claim 12.
The machine-readable medium 920 may include further instructions. For example, instructions that when executed by the processor 910, may cause the processor 910 to eject a composition with white colorant by a nozzle, wherein a printhead from the plurality of printheads comprises the nozzle.
The above examples may be implemented by hardware, or software in combination with hardware. For example, the various methods, processes and functional modules described herein may be implemented by a physical processor (the term processor is to be implemented broadly to include CPU, processing module, ASIC, logic module, or programmable gate array, etc.). The processes, methods and functional modules may all be performed by a single processor or split between several processors; reference in this disclosure or the claims to a "processor" should thus be interpreted to mean "at least one processor". The processes, method and functional modules are implemented as machine-readable instructions executable by at least one processor, hardware logic circuitry of the at least one processors, or a combination thereof.
The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

A printing system carriage (100, 300, 400, 500) comprising:
a plurality of printheads (120, 420, 520) installed in the carriage, the plurality of printheads (120, 420, 520) comprising a moveable printhead (140, 440, 540) that, within the carriage, is movable with respect to the other printheads from the plurality of printheads (120, 420, 520); and

a positioning mechanism (160, 360, 460, 560) configured to move the movable printhead from a first printhead position to a second printhead position in response to a triggering signal; and

a controller (380) configured to generate the triggering signal;

characterized in that the controler (380) is configured to:
derive a number of passes of the carriage from a print mode selection;

divide each printhead (120, 420, 520) from the plurality of printheads (120, 420, 520) into a plurality of segments based on the number of passes;

identify that a segment of the moveable printhead segments is out of phase in respect to a segment from another one of the plurality of printheads (120, 420, 520); and

issue the triggering signal; and wherein

the positioning mechanism (160, 360, 460, 560) is configured to move the moveable printhead (140, 440, 540) from the first printhead position to the second printhead position upon receipt of the triggering signal.
The printing system carriage (100) of claim 1, wherein the moveable printhead is configured to move from the first printhead position to the second printhead position perpendicularly with respect to the carriage movement.
The printing system carriage of claim 1 or 2, wherein a printhead from the plurality of printheads comprises a number of segments multiple of two.
The printing system carriage (100) of claim 1 or 2, wherein a printhead (120, 420, 520) from the plurality of printheads (120, 420, 520) comprises a number of segments multiple of three.
The printing system carriage (100) of claim 1, wherein the spread area of the plurality of printheads (120, 420, 520) in the first printhead position is different to the spread area of the plurality of printheads (120, 420, 520) in the second printhead position.
The printing system carriage (100) of claim 1, wherein each printhead (120, 420, 520) comprises a nozzle array comprising a plurality of nozzles controllable to eject a composition.
The printing system carriage (100) of claim 6, wherein the composition of a nozzle from the nozzle array comprises white colorant.
The printing system carriage (100) of claim 1, wherein the positioning mechanism (160, 360, 460, 560) comprises a pen pocket movable from the first printhead position to the second printhead position, wherein the moveable printhead (140, 440, 540) is installed on the pen pocket (465).
The printing system carriage (100) of claim 1, wherein the positioning mechanism (160, 360, 460, 560) is a servomotor (565) configured to move the position of the movable printhead to a position within a moving range, the boundaries of the moving range being defined by the first printhead position and the second printhead position.
A method for printing comprising:
receiving a triggering signal; and

moving, by a positioning mechanism (160, 360, 460, 560) and in response to a triggering signal, a position of a movable printhead from a plurality of printheads (120, 420, 520) from a first printhead position to a second printhead position, wherein the moveable printhead (140, 440, 540) is movable with respect to the other printheads from the plurality of printheads (120, 420, 520) within a printhead carriage;

characterized in that the triggering signal is generated by

deriving a number of passes of the plurality of printheads (120, 420, 520) from a print mode selection;

dividing each printhead (120, 420, 520) from the plurality of printheads (120, 420, 520) into a plurality of segments based on the number of passes;

identifying that a segment of the moveable printhead segments is out of phase with respect of a segment from another one of the plurality of printheads (120, 420, 520); and

issuing the triggering signal.
The method of claim 10 wherein the movable printhead is to eject white ink.
A non-transitory machine readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor (910) in combination with a positioning mechanism (160, 360, 460, 560), the non-transitory machine readable medium comprising:
instructions to execute the method of claim 10.